2. INTRODUCTION
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He was the son of a stonemason and began his career as a stonemason himself. He
soon went to Milan to study and practice his craft. He moved to Rome in 1619 and
started working for Carlo Maderno,
Borromini's real name was Francesco Castelli. Once he had become established in
Rome, he changed his name from Castelli to Borromini,
he worked with Gian Lorenzo Bernini on the design of the famous baldachin in St.
Peter Basilica , the two later became bitter rivals.
Francesco Borromini was the master of curved-wall architecture.
He was influenced by the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of Antiquity.
His architecture employs manipulations of Classical architectural forms,
geometrical rationales with symbolic meanings behind his buildings.
Classical architectural forms, geometrical rationales in his plans and symbolic
meanings in his buildings.
Quick in temper which resulted in him withdrawing from certain jobs, and his
death was by suicide possibly as a result of nervous disorders and depression,
3. Collegio di
Propaganda Fide
Sant'Andrea
delle Fratte
Palazzo
Barberini
San Carlo alle
Quattro Fontane
Sant'Agnese
in Agone
The Oratory
Sant'Ivo alla
and Palazzo
Sapienza
dei Filippini
Palazzo Falconieri
Palazzo Spada
San Giovanni in
Laterano
4. San Carlo alle Quattro
Fontane
•Borromini's first independent
commission
•This tiny church, along with its
courtyard, is one of the most
important monuments of the baroque
style in Rome.
12. The dome of which appears to float because its spring points ( arch) and light sources
are concealed below.
13.
14. Sant'Ivo alla
Sapienza, 1660,
• Commissioned in 1632
•Its courtyard, near University of Rome
La Sapienza palace.
• Initially the church of the Roman
Archiginnasio
•It was built at the end of Giacomo Della
Porta’s long courtyard
21. Sant'Agnese in Agone
•Construction began in
1652 under the
architects Girolamo and his
son Carlo. After numerous
quarrels, the other main
architect involved
was Boromini.
26. Palazzo Spada
•Borromini began working at the Palazzo Spada in Rome in 1632.
•‘forced perspective’
• The corridor is shorter and the sculpture at its end much smaller than they first
appear.
•The corridor looks to be around 35m long,
when in fact it is less than 9m from front to back.
27. Collegio di Propaganda Fide
Borromini designed
the facade and the
Chapel of the Three
Kings
31. San Giovanni in Laterano
Borromini redesigned the interior of Rome's cathedral.
32. An oblique view back towards the rear of the nave, showing some of Borromini’s niches.
These niches were left empty for decades until Pope Clement XI sponsored a competition in
1703 to select designs for larger than life statues of the Apostles.
